Stock Market & Financial Investment News

Netflix CEO says net neutrality 'must be defended and strengthened'Netflix (NFLX) CEO Reed Hastings said in a blog post, "To ensure the Internet remains humanity's most important platform for progress, net neutrality must be defended and strengthened." He added, "The essence of net neutrality is that ISPs such as AT&T and Comcast don't restrict, influence or otherwise meddle with the choices consumers make. The traditional form of net neutrality which was recently overturned by a Verizon lawsuit is important, but insufficient...Without strong net neutrality, big ISPs can demand potentially escalating fees for the interconnection required to deliver high quality service."

AT&T VP critical of Dish auction tacticsAT&T (T) VP of Federal Regulatory Joan Marsh stated in a post to a corporate blog that FCC Auction 97 represents "hard evidence that there is significant continuing interest in licensed spectrum... It didn't matter that it was mid-band spectrum. It mattered only that it was broadband spectrum." Marsh notes that Dish (DISH) won more licenses than any other bidder though "none of that spectrum is currently supporting commercial wireless services," with her suggestion being that "auctions should be designed to ensure that licenses go to those willing to deploy networks – not speculators or stockpilers...The government should continue to place a high priority on allocating new licensed bands to the wireless industry." Marsh continues her analysis of Dish, claiming the double and triple-bidding activity carried out by its two designated entities "circumvented auction activity rules, masked actual demand and distorted the auction," as they were able to win significant allocations while enjoying a 25% small business discount. In response to Dish claims that all companies use DEs, Marsh replies that "in more recent auctions... bidders like AT&T, Verizon (VZ) and T-Mobile (TMUS) had no DE relationships, participated directly and paid full price for their licenses." Reference Link

AT&T to match Google Fiber speed, pricing in Kansas City area, KC Star saysAT&T (T) announced on Sunday that it would offer Internet service in Kansas City and several of itssuburbs, with the same speed and pricing as Internet service provided by Google's Google Fiber service in the region, according to The Kansas City Star. Reference Link